The morning after a long, torrential downpour, there is no trace of water on the pavement or in the flat gravel driveway.
During the parade with the king the queen is talking to her daughter asking where Lord Lascelles is. The chair to her left where he would be sitting is empty. When they pan away from the scene Lady Cora has moved over to fill the seat leaving a space between her and Bertie Hexham.
While King George V inspects the troops, he is accompanied by a man dressed in lord lieutenant clothing. This is incorrect as Lord Grantham is the lord lieutenant of the local area, yet he is sitting in the 'VIP' area instead of with the king.
When the king and queen arrive at Downton Abbey, Cora introduces Mary ahead of Bertie and Edith; this is an egregious mistake because although Mary is the eldest, Bertie and Edith outrank her. The Marquess and Marchioness of Hexham must stand at the reception line ahead of Mrs. Talbot and must be introduced to royalty first.
During the opening sequence, the train departing the station and traveling at night has absolutely no headlight. Trains had had headlights for about 100 years and would never operate without this critical piece of safety equipment.
The Dowager Countess Bagshaw mentions that she intends her maid, Lucy Smith to inherit the title over Lord Grantham. This is impossible as the English peers adhere to male primogeniture. If there is an eligible male to inherit, they automatically become heir over any females.
At 1:00, Tom is on the gravel walkway, looking over at the children playing. He then hears Princess Mary crying softly, as she is sitting on the bench under the tree. Given the distance between where Tom was standing and the bench where she was sitting, along with her very soft crying/sniffling, it would have been impossible for him to hear that.
During the parade you can see people's breaths when they speak even though it's set in the summer.
During the presentation of the troops and inspection in front of the reviewing stand, the lawn is dry and the horses and wagons cause absolutely no damage. A lawn subjected to a torrential downpour would be muddy under the grass and show significant damage from the passage of the horses and wagons.
"God Save The Queen" in the subtitles (in English) is correct and proper when the English sovereign is female. The majority of people alive today have heard only that title. But, when played for George V, the title needs to be "God Save the King."
Lady Mary comments that the suppression of news about an incident is "an Establishment cover-up." The word "Establishment" to refer to the people officially or unofficially at the head of society was not used until the late 1950s.
Preparations are being made for the Prince of Wales to visit Africa the following year. The movie is set in 1927, but the Prince's African visit was in 1925.
Mr Sellick makes reference to "working nine to five." This was not the standard working day in 1920s Britain, with most workers having a much longer day. The adjectival sense of "nine to five" is first recorded in 1927, the year the movie is set, so it probably was not well known enough yet to be tossed out and have everybody understand it.
Mr. Carson stepped down as butler due to illness making his hands shake. However, here in this movie his hands never tremble and he is able to fulfill his duties as temporary butler with no problem.